Startup Makes MTV From YouTube and Radio Playlists

Vadio is building a business off the YouTube API. The company also has its own technology for translating a list of songs into music video playlists no matter where the videos are stored. Vadio has already seen interest from radio stations, because the product is more appealing than simple audio and increases listener engagement.

Among Vadio's customers is Seattle's KPLZ, which lets you listen and view its station on the site. The most recent addition is Michigan-based country station WHFB.

“Syncing a live radio broadcast with music videos while retaining breaks and live in-studio segments is no easy task, but Vadio’s platform does it effortlessly,” KPLZ's Jenny Kuglin said in a press release.

The numbers are looking good for stations, according to Vadio's Bryce Clemmer. One saw as much as a 10 times increase in overall traffic to the site. Time spent on the listening page doubled once videos were added.

YouTube is a big piece of the Vadio experience and Clemmer has good things to say about the YouTube API. "Their embedded player has also been a joy to work with, when compared with other embedded objects we have worked with along the way," Clemmer said. "For the most part, it just works, and the JavaScript hooks it provides are more than adequate," Clemmer said.

YouTube isn't the only API used by Vadio's platform. The company has a complex Google Analytics API integration to provide the all-important listener details to radio stations. Vadio can also search Vevo, the label-owned music video library company, which also syndicates its content to YouTube.

The Vevo relationship may be an important part of the puzzle. In 2010, Vevo pulled its videos from YouTube after a mashup made the content easily available ad-free.

Disclosure: I have been an informal advisor to Vadio

About the author:Adam DuVander
-- Adam heads developer relations at Orchestrate, a database-as-a-service company. He's spent many years analyzing APIs and developer tools. Previously he worked at SendGrid, edited ProgrammableWeb and wrote for Wired and Webmonkey. Adam is also the author of mapping API cookbook Map Scripting 101.